BUS 44

SUMMARY:

On the outskirts of a small town, a bus driver and her passengers encounter highway robbers. "Bus 44" carries a universal theme that travels across all boundaries and societies, trespassing the dark side and bright side of human behavior.

DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS:

I have always been interested in social psychology and wanted to do a film about how people react under certain stressful circumstances. The story attracts me not only because it has an interesting plot with a twist, but mostly because the underlying theme is even more haunting than the events that take place. I intentionally made this film with a certain ambiguity of time and place -- this story could have taken place anywhere in the world. Making films about people and human nature attracts me because I feel that people around the world have much more in common than they do differences. "Bus 44" carries a universal theme that travels across all boundaries and societies, trespassing the dark side and bright side of human behavior.

AWARDS

Special Jury Award - 2001 Venice Film Festival

Jury Honorable Mention - 2002 Sundance Film Festival

Directors' Fortnight - 2002 Cannes Film Festival

Grand Jury Award - 2002 Florida Film Festival

Official Selection - 2003 New York Film Festival

Official Selection - 2001 Pusan ​​International Film Festival

Official Selection - 2002 Hong Kong International Film Festival

Official Selection - 2001 Seattle International Film Festival

Official Selection - 2002 Edinburgh International Film Festival

Official Selection - 2002 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival

Official Selection - 2001 Gijon International Film Festival

POSTER

REVIEWS & QUOTES

Chris Lee, producer and former president of Columbia/Tristar Pictures:

"Short-filmmaking at its best... One of the best short films I've seen."

Janet Yang, producer:

"... A very moving film that is also a searing social commentary."

Ju Kyung-Jung, filmmaker:

"... Korean directors are now noticing and paying more attention to young Chinese directors such as Dayyan Eng... "

Jo Lusby, City Weekend Magazine:

"Bus 44 is one of those rare films that have all the ingredients of a truly great movie... The story is complete, and the self-restraint obviously needed to not spin this out into a longer piece is admirable. It is well paced, intriguing, and defies any viewer to not react to the underlying message of the movie."